User-widget-based transaction system

ABSTRACT

A method and system are described to provide a user-widget-based transaction environment. In one example embodiment, an electronic magazine may be presented to a user device as a widget without using a browser. The electronic magazine may comprise two or more data pages. A user selection of at least one of the two or more data pages may be detected and then communicated from the user device across a network for further processing.

COPYRIGHT

A portion of the disclosure of this document contains material that issubject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection tothe facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or thepatent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Officepatent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rightswhatsoever. The following notice applies to the software, data, and/orscreenshots that may be described below and in the drawings that form apart of this document: Copyright© 2010, eBay Inc. All Rights Reserved.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This application relates to the technical fields of software and/orhardware technology and, in one example embodiment, to an onlinetransaction system.

BACKGROUND

The approaches described in this section could be pursued, but are notnecessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued.Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches describedin this section are not prior art to the claims in this application andare not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.

Typically, an online transaction system (e.g., online transactionplatform engine 134 of FIG. 1) communicates with a user device (e.g.,desktops, mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) orhome-networked devices, etc.) via a browser-based user interface (UI)(also referred to as a web browser or merely a browser). However, usersof web browsers have experienced some usability problems because ofclumsy interfacing and limited functionality that the web browserprovides for online transaction (e.g., shopping). Web-based applicationshave been used as embedded within the web browser to ease theabove-mentioned problems.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present invention are illustrated by way of exampleand not limitation in the FIGS. of the accompanying drawings, in whichlike reference numbers indicate similar elements and in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic representation of an architecture within whichone example embodiment of a user-widget-based transaction system may beimplemented;

FIG. 2 is block diagram of a widget client of a user-widget-basedtransaction system, in accordance with one example embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a method for using a user-widget-basedtransaction system, in accordance with one example embodiment;

FIGS. 4A and 4B are snapshots of a widget client displaying a pluralityof data pages simultaneously, in accordance with one example embodiment;and

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic representation of an example machine in theform of a computer system within which a set of instructions; forcausing the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein, may be executed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of an embodiment of the present invention. It will beevident, however, to one skilled in the art that the present inventionmay be practiced without these specific details.

Existing browser-based (or web-based) online transaction techniques arebound by some fundamental limitations of a web browser. The users alwayshave to activate the web browser and wait for a network connection to beestablished between the web browser and the online transaction system.In addition, the web browser receives updated contents of a particularlisting from the online transaction system only after the users selectthe particular listing they are interested in, and not when the usersselect a data page that includes the particular listing. In some cases,waiting for these steps can take long enough to turn the users away fromonline transaction (e.g., shopping). This is especially true when theneed for the online transaction is instantaneous rather than preplannedand/or a user is concurrently working on another task using his device.

Furthermore, under the existing browser-based online transactiontechniques, data pages that each include one or more listings areconstrained within a rectangular page provided by the web browser. Forexample, as known to those in the art, a ‘web widget’ is typicallyembedded on a web page as a rectangle section to demarcate differentlogical pieces of information on the web page. Also, the way the datapages are presented to the users is also limited by computationalcapability, or available resources of the web browser, which are usuallyinferior to those of a widget-based application. This results in amonotonous and less interactive way of interfacing between the users andthe data pages that include listings, which in many cases alsodiscourages the users from online transactions. A new method and systemis introduced to resolve these problems and other additional problemsthat may be inherently or explicitly disclosed by a further reading ofthis documentation.

A method and system is described to provide a user-widget-basedtransaction environment. In one example embodiment, an electronicmagazine may be presented as a widget via a user device without using abrowser. The electronic magazine may comprise two or more data pages. Auser selection of at least one of the two or more data pages may bedetected and then communicated from the user device across a network forfurther processing. In one example embodiment, a network connection maybe established between the user device and a network-based transactionfacility without activating the browser via a widget-based userinterface (UI) configured on the user device. This enables the one ormore data pages to be displayed via the user device before the browseris activated on the user device.

In one example embodiment, the at least one data page may comprise atleast one listing associated with an item or a service. The at least onelisting may contain various types of information (e.g., texts, picturesor multimedia files, etc.) associated with the item or the service. Theitem or the service may be for commercial transactions (e.g.,fixed-price or auction sale, etc.) or non-commercial transactions (e.g.,sending inquires or posting information, etc.). In one exampleembodiment, the user selection of the at least one data page maycomprise an order, an inquiry, a reservation, a bid or a trade requestfor the item or the service.

In one example embodiment, the electronic magazine may comprise anelectronic book, an electronic newspaper, an electronic catalogue, anelectronic brochure, or an electronic pamphlet or leaflet, etc. Theelectronic magazine may contain commercial or non-commercial informationor both. In one example embodiment, the electronic magazine may bedisplayed via the user device in the form of a stand-alone windowapplication program, and not an interne browser plug-in. More detailedexplanation about the user-widget-based transaction system and method isgiven below with reference to FIGS. 1-5.

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic representation of an architecture 100 withinwhich one example embodiment of a user-widget-based transaction systemmay be implemented. As shown in FIG. 1, the architecture 100 may includeone or more user devices 110-1, 110-2 and 110-N, in communication with anetwork-based transaction facility 130 via a network 120. Each of theuser devices 110-1 through 110-N may comprise a stand-alone clientcomputer system, a cell phone, a PDA or a home-networked television set,or so forth that may include a widget client 112, a memory unit 114, aprocessing unit 116 and an input/output (I/O) unit 118, such as atouch-screen or a normal display. The network-based transaction facility130 may comprise a widget server 132 and an online transaction platformengine 134. In one example embodiment, at least one of a data pagedatabase 136 and a registered server database 138 may be locally orremotely coupled to the network-based transaction facility 130.

The widget client 112 may be downloaded from the network-basedtransaction facility 130 and installed on a corresponding user device,for example, user device 110-1. The widget client 112 may be initiallyset to perform according to default configurations provided by thenetwork-based transaction facility 130. The default configuration may bechanged later according to requirements of a respective user associatedwith the corresponding user device. The widget client 112 maycommunicate various information between the network-based transactionfacility 130 and the user devices 110-1 through 110-N. For example, thewidget client 112 installed on the user device 110-1 may receive aplurality of data pages 111 from the network-based transaction facility130 via the network 120.

In one example embodiment, the data pages 111 may be transmitted fromthe network-based transaction facility 130 in the form of a markuplanguage, such as HTML (HyperText Markup Language), XML (ExtensibleMarkup Language) or SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language), etc.Each of the data pages 111 may be associated with a corresponding pagenumber and comprise at least one listing. The at least one listing maycontain various types of information associated with an item or aservice listed for transaction, such as a fixed-price sale, an auctionor a request for further information, etc. For example, each data pagemay include text (e.g., a title, a category and a description, etc.) andpicture and/or multimedia files associated with a corresponding item orservice. At least one of the data pages 111 received from thenetwork-based transaction facility 130 may further include advertisementinformation not directly related to a corresponding listing included inthe data page. In one example embodiment, the data pages 111 may bestored in the memory unit 114 when they are received from thenetwork-based transaction facility 130, and retrieved later by thewidget client 112 for display.

The widget client 112 may present an electronic magazine including twoor more of the data pages 111 via the I/O unit (e.g., the touch-screendisplay or the normal display) of the user device 110-1 and detect auser selection of at least one data page 117 from the two or more datapages presented. The widget client 112 may then transfer the userselection of the at least one data page 117 across the network 120. Inone example embodiment, the widget client 112 may transfer the userselection of the at least one data page 117 to the network-basedtransaction facility 130 or to a user server (e.g., a merchant or sellerserver) (not shown) separate from the network-based transaction facility130 depending on whether a destination address associated with the userselection is registered with the network-based transaction facility 130.More detailed structures and functions of the widget client 112 will bediscussed below with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

The network 120 may provide a communication channel between the userdevices 110-1 through 110-N and the network-based transaction facility130. In one example embodiment, the network 120 may comprise a publicnetwork (e.g., the Internet, a wireless network, etc.) or a privatenetwork (e.g., a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN),Intranet, etc.). The network 120 may use a transfer protocol, forexample, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), Hypertext Transfer ProtocolSecure (HTTPs), or file transfer protocol (FTP), and so forth totransfer the data pages 111 and other information between thenetwork-based transaction facility 130 and the user devices 110-1through 110-N, or among the user devices 110-1 through 110-N.

The widget server 132 may be configured to manage (e.g., compose,publish, update, etc.) the data pages 111. The widget server 132 mayalso be configured to receive the user selection of the at least onedata page 117 transferred from the widget client 112 and to process theuser selection. In one example embodiment, the widget server 132 maycomprise an authoring module 132-1, a publishing module 132-2 and aforwarding module 132-3.

The authoring module 132-1 may automatically compose the data pages 111in an Internet compatible format, such as HTML, XML or SGML, and soforth, using corresponding listings received from users. In one exampleembodiment, the composed data pages may be stored in the data pagedatabase 136 and retrieved for later use. In one example embodiment, thelistings used in the composed data pages may be retrieved from a listingdatabase (not shown) separate from the data page database 136, and yetoperatively coupled to the network-based transaction facility 130. Inone example embodiment, the authoring module 132-1 may compose the datapages 111 in response to detection of corresponding listings beinglisted with the network-based transaction facility 130 (e.g., the onlinetransaction platform engine 134), on a specified event basis (e.g., anumber of newly listed listings reaching one hundred), or a specifiedtime basis (e.g., every hour, day or week, etc.).

When the data pages 111 are composed, the publishing module 132-2 maytransfer the data pages 111 to the user device, for example 110-1, viathe widget client 112. The publishing module 132-2 may further monitorthe data pages 111 in the network-based transaction facility 130 todetect any updates, such as changes in contents, removals of listings,and so forth. When the updates are detected, the publishing module 132-2may push updated contents of corresponding data pages to the user device110-1 via the widget client 112. The push by the publishing module 132-2of the updated contents to the user device 110-1 may be performedperiodically and/or upon occurrence of a special event specified by thenetwork-based transaction facility 130 or a user associated with theuser device 110-1. In one example embodiment, alternatively oradditionally, the widget client 112 may access the widget server 132,periodically or upon occurrence of a specified event, check for dataupdates for the data pages 111 and download the updated contents for thedata pages 111 from the network-based transaction facility 130.

The forwarding module 132-3 may receive the user selection of the atleast one data page 117 transferred from the user device 110-1 via thenetwork 120. The forwarding module 132-3 may then verify whether adestination address associated with the user selection of the at leastone data page 117 is registered with the network-based transactionfacility 130. If it is determined that the destination address is notregistered with the network-based transaction facility 130, theforwarding module 132-3 may send an error notification to the userdevice 110-1.

If it is verified that the destination address is registered with thenetwork-based transaction facility 130, the forwarding module 132-3 mayfurther determine whether the destination address is an address of thenetwork-based transaction facility 130 or an address of a separateserver. The separate server may comprise, for example, an additionalserver run by, or affiliated with, the network-based transactionfacility 130 or a user server (e.g., a server of a merchant, a seller,or a user who lists the at least one listing, etc.).

If the destination address is determined to be the address of thenetwork-based transaction facility 130, then the forwarding module 132-3may perform tasks requested by the user selection of the at least onedata page 117, or notify a relevant functional entity (e.g., onlinetransaction platform engine 134) of receipt of the user selection. Ifthe destination address is determined to be the address of the separateserver, then the forwarding module 132-3 may forward the user selectionof the at least one data page 117 to the separate server for therequested tasks. In one example embodiment, the forwarding module 132-3may receive an outcome of performing the requested tasks (e.g., updatedbid or check-out information) from the separate server and forward itback to the user device 110-1.

In one example embodiment, the network-based transaction facility 130may further comprise the registered server database 138 to store networkaddresses of registered servers, such as servers of sellers, merchantsor users who list listings, or servers run by, or affiliated with, thenetwork-based transaction facility 130. At least a portion of thenetwork addresses stored in the registered server database 138 may beupdated and downloaded to the user device 110-1 via the widget client112, periodically or upon occurrence of a specified event. In oneexample embodiment, the downloaded registered server addresses may bestored in the memory unit 114, for example, in the form of a registeredserver repository (FIG. 2, block 290) for later use.

In one example embodiment, the forwarding module 132-3 may provide theuser devices 110-1 through 110-N notifications of a specified event viathe corresponding widget client 112. For example, the forwarding module132-3 may send at least one of the user devices 110-1 through 110-N amessage about a surprise sale, such as “50% sale on all brands of golfclubs between 3:00-4:00 PM today for the first 500 customers.” Themessage may be automatically presented via the widget client 112 to theI/O unit (e.g., a display) 118 of the corresponding user devices 110-1through 110-N, allowing respective users to be informed of the surprisesale without activating a web browser.

In one example embodiment, the online transaction platform engine 134may provide the network-based transaction facility 130 with server-sidefunctionality for a network-based marketplace (not shown in FIG. 1). Forthis purpose, the online transaction platform engine 134 may run anumber of modules or applications, such as a listing module, a searchmodule or a billing module (not shown in FIG. 1). For example, thelisting module may provide a user (e.g., a merchant, a seller, aninformation provider, etc.) with capability to post data pages includingcorresponding listings via a user device associated with the user. Thesearch module may provide access to existing listings associated withthe network-based transaction facility 130 according to user queries.The billing module may provide the network-based transaction facility130 with capabilities to bill users according to various servicesprovided to the users.

It is noted that although only three modules are described herein, moreor less modules may run on each of the widget server 132 and the onlinetransaction platform engine 134 in one example embodiment. It is alsonoted that although the online transaction platform engine 134 isdescribed as an entity separate from the widget server 132, they may becombined as a single entity or divided into more entities, and yetprovide the same functionality in one example embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram 200 of a widget client of theuser-widget-based transaction system, in accordance with one exampleembodiment. The widget client may be designed to imitate userexperiences similar to when a user flips through a paper magazine, book,newspaper, brochure or catalog, etc., giving an impression of turningpages or turning a page half way. Accordingly, a user of the widgetclient may be presented with graphics that show the bending or foldingof one or more data pages, allowing a half-turned page to extend beyondthe rectangular presentation area.

As shown in FIG. 2, the widget client 112 may comprise a widget-baseduser interface (UI) 210, a presentation module 230, and a communicationmodule 250. In one example embodiment, the widget client 112 may furthercomprise a plurality of repositories including a data page repository270 and a registered server repository 290. At least one of the datapage repository 270 and the registered server repository 290 may bestored in a local memory associated with a corresponding user device,such as the memory unit 114 in FIG. 1.

In one example embodiment, the widget-based UI 210 may be configured toestablish a network connection with a server, such as the network-basedtransaction facility 130 in FIG. 1, without activating a web browser.This enables two or more of a plurality of data pages 111 received fromthe network-based transaction facility 130 to be simultaneouslypresented to a corresponding user device (e.g., 110-1 in FIG. 1) withoutusing the web browser once the widget-based UI 210 is installed on theuser device. In one example embodiment, the widget-based UI 210installed on the user device 110-1 may communicate with at least one ofother widget clients running on other user devices 110-2 through 110-N,directly or via the network-based transaction facility 130.

The widget-based UI 210 may be downloaded to the user device 110-1 fromthe network-based transaction facility 130. In one example embodiment,the widget-based UI 210 may be distributed to the user device 110-1offline in the form of a computer-readable storage medium, such as acompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a memory stick, and so forth.The widget-based UI 210 may then be installed on the user device 110-1for operation.

In one example, the widget-based UI 210 may initially receive theplurality of data pages 111 from the network-based transaction facility130 according to a user configuration or a system configuration wheninstalled on the user device 110-1. For example, the plurality of datapages 111 initially received from the network-based transaction facility130 may be associated with a certain designated category, such as ladiesfashion, golf, and so forth. Alternatively or additionally, other searchrequirements (e.g., brands), parameters (e.g., price ranges) orsubcategories (e.g., iron or driver, etc.) may be applied to initiallyselect the plurality of data pages 111 from the network-basedtransaction facility 130. The user configuration or the systemconfiguration for the widget-based UI 210 may be changed later duringoperation, for example, in response to a user request or a specifiedevent.

The presentation module 230 may present an electronic magazine to theuser device 110-1 as a widget via the widget-based UI 210 without usinga web browser. The electronic magazine may comprise two or more of thedata pages 111 transmitted from the network-based transaction facility130. In one example embodiment, the presentation module 230 may provideat least one of the data pages 111 with interface functionalities thatare not available in conventional web browsers (e.g., Explorer orFirefox, etc.) or web browser based applications (e.g., web widgets,etc.) embedded in the conventional web browsers. For example, thepresentation module 230 may automatically render images of the at leastone of the data pages 111 using information received from thenetwork-based transaction facility 130. In one example embodiment, asnoted earlier, the information for the corresponding data page maycomprise HTML, XML or SGML documents.

In one example embodiment, the presentation module 230 may display atleast one of the two or more data pages 111 as being distorted from itsoriginal shape by, for example, folding, bending, extending a portion ofthe at least one data page over a boundary line of other data pages orpartially overlapping the at least one page with the other data pages,as illustrated in FIGS. 4A and 4B.

In one example embodiment, the presentation module 230 maysimultaneously display contents of two discontinuous data pages (e.g.,pages 33 and 35) without displaying the contents of the intervening datapage (e.g., page 34), as illustrated by the snapshot 400 in FIG. 4A. Inone example embodiment, the presentation module 230 may simultaneouslydisplay the contents of two data pages that are more than two pagesapart from each other (e.g., pages 33 and 37) without displaying thecontents of a plurality of intervening data pages (e.g., pages 34-36)when two or more of the intervening data pages (e.g., pages 35 and 36)are folded or bended so as to substantially overlap with each other.

In yet another example embodiment, the presentation module 230 maysimultaneously display portions of both a front side and a back side(e.g., pages 18 and 19) of the at least one data page being distorted(e.g., page 18), as illustrated by the snapshot 450 in FIG. 4B. In oneexample embodiment, alternatively or additionally, the shape of the datapage being distorted may be changed from a rectangular shape to anon-rectangular shape and/or the size of the data page being distortedmay be enlarged or reduced from its original size. In one exampleembodiment, as illustrated in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the presentation module230 may display shadows for the data page being distorted. The shapesand sizes of the shadows may be changed responsive to the movement ofthe data page being distorted.

In one example embodiment, the presentation module 230 may retrieve oneor more data pages presented via the widget-based UI 210 from the localmemory (e.g., the memory unit 114) associated with the user device 110-1upon activation of the widget-based UI 210. The widget-based UI 210 maybe automatically activated upon a power-on of the user device 110-1, orby user activation separate from the power-on of the user device 110-1.In one example embodiment, the presentation module 230 may receive atleast one portion of contents for the one or more data pages from thenetwork-based transaction facility 130 in real-time instead ofretrieving from the local memory (e.g., the memory unit 114). In oneexample embodiment, the presentation module 230 may temporarily save theat least one portion of the contents in a cache memory (not shown) ofthe user device 110-1 before presenting it via the widget-based UI 210.

In one example embodiment, the presentation module 230 may access,periodically or upon occurrence of a specified event, the network-basedtransaction facility 130 (e.g., the widget server 132) to check updatesfor the data pages that are stored in the local memory and/or currentlypresented via the widget-based UI 210. In response to detection of theupdates, the presentation module 230 may download updated contents 115for corresponding data pages from the network-based transaction facility130. In one example embodiment, one or more new or initial configurationrequirements (e.g., date ranges, price ranges, brands, etc.) configuredby a corresponding user may be applied in receiving the updated contents115 from the network-based transaction facility 130.

In one example embodiment, the widget client 112 may perform the task ofreceiving updated and/or new data pages from the network-basedtransaction facility 130 as a back-end processing while the widget-basedUI 210 is not actively used, such as idly sitting as an icon on a taskbar of a window of the user device 110-1. In such a case, the updatedand/or new data pages received from the network-based transactionfacility 130 may be stored in the local memory (e.g., the memory unit114) and retrieved therefrom later for display when requested.

In one example embodiment, two or more data pages that are to bepresented to the user device 110-1 via the widget-based UI 210 mayinclude a first data page and a second data page. The first data pagemay include a first listing and the second data page may include asecond listing. When a page view request 113 for the first data page isdetected via the widget-based UI 210, the presentation module 230 mayupdate not only the first listing but also the second listing fordisplay with latest information at a substantially same time and viceversa.

The presentation module 230 may replace an electronic magazine that ispresented via the widget-based UI 210 with a new electronic magazine. Inone example embodiment, the presentation module 230 may replace the twoor more data pages presented to the user device 110-1 via thewidget-based UI 210 with new data pages. All of the new data pages maybe associated with a same category that is different from any of one ormore categories associated with the one or more data pages presented viathe widget-based UI 210. In one example embodiment, the presentationmodule 230 may activate two or more instances of the widget-based UI 210concurrently. In such a case, a respective one of the two or more userwidget instances may be used to display a group of data pages associatedwith a corresponding same item or service category and/or same displayrequirements.

The presentation module 230 may simulate a page turn-over. The pageturn-over may comprise visually presenting a switch from an electronicdata page to another in a manner that resembles the turning over of apage of a paper magazine. In one example embodiment, the presentationmodule 230 may turn over a selected data page toward a neighboring datapage in response to a request for a page turn-over. In one exampleembodiment, the presentation module 230 may turn over the selected datapage, starting from a user-specified portion of the selected data page.The user-specified portion may be determined by a user input receivedvia the I/O unit 118, such as a touch screen, a mouse input, and soforth.

In one example embodiment, the presentation module 230 may change aspeed of the turning over the data page. For example, the presentationmodule 230 may speed up or slow down a page turn-over movementresponsive to the speed of the user input. In one example embodiment,the presentation module 230 may pause the page turn-over before theselected data page is completely turned over to the neighboring datapage. In one example embodiment, the presentation module 230 may furthermove the selected data page that is paused during the page turn-over inany direction, forward or backward. For example, the presentation module230 may resume turning over the paused data page toward the neighboringdata page or move the paused data page back toward its originalposition. In one example embodiment, the presentation module 230 maypause and resume the page turn-over repeatedly.

In one example embodiment, the presentation module 230 may calculatechanges in a location and/or, a size of a portion of the selected datapage that is turned over (e.g., folded or bended). The presentationmodule 230 may then update corresponding data contents of a target datapage (e.g., new data page) being displayed in the turned-over portionbased on the changes. In one example embodiment, the presentation module230 may determine, from the selected data page, a first portion that isnot turned over and a second portion that is turned over. Thepresentation module 230 may then display contents of the selected datapage on the non-turned-over portion and contents of a rear-side page ofthe selected data page on the turned-over portion at the same time.

In one example embodiment, the presentation module 230 may partiallyoverlap the paused data page with other data pages, resulting in a firstportion of the other data pages hidden from view and a second portion ofthe other data pages displayed at the same time. In one exampleembodiment, the presentation module 230 may be configured to present oneor more menu buttons to receive a user control of the one or more datapages. The one or more menu buttons may be displayed as being locatedoutside of a boundary line of the widget-based UI 210 or protruding fromthe boundary line toward the outside.

The communication module 250 may be configured to detect a userselection of at least one data page 117 from the data pages presentedvia the widget-based UI 210. The communication module 250 may thentransfer the user selection from the user device 110-1 across thenetwork 120 for further processing. More detailed operations of thecommunication module 250 will be explained below with reference to FIG.3.

Although the presentation module 230 and the communication module 250are described above as residing on a user device, such as 110-1, alongwith the widget-based UI 210, in one example embodiment, at least one ofthe presentation module 230 and the communication module 250 may beconfigured to run on the network-based transaction facility 130,alternatively or additionally.

It is noted that each of the modules described above in FIGS. 1 and 2may be implemented by hardware (e.g., circuit), firmware, software orany combinations thereof. It is also noted that although each of themodules is described above as a separate module, the entire modules orsome of the modules in FIGS. 1 and 2 may be implemented as a singleentity (e.g., module or circuit) and still maintain the samefunctionality. Example operations performed by the widget client 118 andthe widget server 132 are discussed below with reference to FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a method for using the user-widget-basedtransaction system, in accordance with one example embodiment. Themethod 300 may be performed by processing logic that may comprisehardware (e.g., dedicated logic, programmable logic, microcode, etc.),software (such as run on a general purpose computer system or adedicated machine), or a combination of both. In one example embodiment,the processing logic may reside in various modules illustrated in FIG. 1and FIG. 2. It should be noted that the activities described herein maybe executed in an order other than the order described. The variousactivities described with respect to the methods identified herein mayalso be executed in repetitive, serial, and/or parallel fashion.

As shown in FIG. 3, at operation 310, an electronic magazine may bepresented to a user device (e.g., 110-1) via a widget-based UT (e.g.,210) without using a browser. The electronic magazine may comprise twoor more data pages (e.g., 111). At least one of the two or more datapages may include at least one listing associated with an item or aservice for a commercial or non-commercial transaction. At operations320, 330, 340, 350, 360 and 370, a user selection of the at least onedata page (e.g., 117) detected via the widget-based UI 210 may then becommunicated from the user device 110-1 across a network (e.g., 120) forfurther processing. For example, the communication module 250 in FIG. 2may communicate the user selection from the user device 110-1 across thenetwork 120.

In one example embodiment, when the user selection of the at least onedata page 117 is detected via the widget-based UI 210, it may bedetermined, at operations 320 and 330, whether a destination addressassociated with the user selection is registered with a network-basedtransaction facility (e.g., 130) from which the two or more data pages111 or the widget-based UI 210 are downloaded. In one exampleembodiment, a registered server repository (e.g., 138) that is generatedfrom the network-based transaction facility 130 may be scanned to findan address that matches the destination address associated with the userselection. The registered server repository 138 may include one or moreaddresses of corresponding one or more servers that are registered tothe network-based transaction facility 130. The one or more registeredservers may be servers run by users (e.g., merchants, sellers or oneswho list the listings), or servers run by, or affiliated with, thenetwork-transaction facility 130.

At operation 340, if it is determined that the destination address isregistered with the network-based transaction facility 130 (e.g., amatch is found in the registered server repository), then, at operation350, the user selection may be transmitted from the user device 110-1via the network 120 to the network-based transaction facility 130 forfurther processing. The network-based transaction facility 130 may thenforward the user selection to the destination address if the destinationaddress does not match its own network address. For example, theforwarding module 132-3 of the widget server 132 may forward the userselection to a server run by, or affiliated with, the network-basedtransaction facility 130 or to a user server (e.g., a merchant server ora computer of a user who lists the at least one listing). Or, if thedestination address matches its own network address, the network-basedtransaction facility 130 (e.g., the online transaction platform engine134) may perform a requested transaction associated with the userselection.

At operation 360, if it is determined that the destination address isnot registered with the network-based transaction facility 130 (e.g., nomatch is found in the registered server repository), then, at operation370, the user selection may be transmitted from the user device 110-1via the network 120 directly to the destination address without goingthrough the network-based transaction facility 130. In one exampleembodiment, a web browser may be activated on the user device 110-1 totransmit the user selection to its destination address.

In one example embodiment, the two or more data pages that are presentedto the user device 110-1 via the widget-based UI 210 may include a firstdata page and a second data page. The first data page may include afirst listing and the second data page may include including a secondlisting. When a page view request (e.g., 113) for the first data page isdetected via the widget-based UI 210, not only the first listing butalso the second listing may be updated for display with latestinformation at a substantially same time and vice versa.

In one example embodiment, the electronic magazine that is presented tothe user device (e.g., 110-1) via the widget-based UI 210 may bereplaced with a new electronic magazine. In such a case, the two or moredata pages included in the electronic magazine may be replaced with newdata pages. In one example embodiment, all of the new data pages may beassociated with a same category that is different from any of one ormore categories associated with the one or more data pages. In oneexample embodiment, two or more instances of the widget-based UI 210 maybe activated concurrently. In such a case, a respective one of the twoor more user widget instances may be used to display a group of datapages associated with a corresponding same item or service categoryand/or same display requirements.

One or more data pages presented to the user device 110-1 may becontrolled by a user input via the widget-based UI 210. In one exampleembodiment, a data page may be selected from the two or more data pagesin response to a first user input identified via the user widget 120.The selected data page may then be turned over toward its neighboringdata page, revealing at least one portion of a rear-side page of theselected data page or a neighboring page of the rear-side page. In oneexample embodiment, a turning portion may be additionally selected fromthe selected data page in response to a second user input identified viathe widget-based UI 210. Then, the page turn-over of the selected datapage may start from the user-specified turning portion (e.g., uppercorner or lower corner, etc.) of the selected data page. In one exampleembodiment, the speed of a page turn-over of the selected data page maybe changed (e.g., slower or faster) in response to a third user input(e.g., the speed of dragging a mouse pointer, etc.). In one exampleembodiment, the page turn-over of the selected data page may be pausedbefore the selected data page is completely turned over to the targetdata page. In one example embodiment, the selected data page that ispaused during the page turn-over may be moved back to its originalposition before the page turn-over started.

In one example embodiment, at least a portion of the selected data pagethat is being turned over may be displayed as folded, bended, extendingover a boundary line of non-selected data pages or partially overlappingwith the non-selected data pages. In one example embodiment, one or moremenu buttons may be presented to receive a user control of the one ormore data pages. The one or more menu buttons may be displayed as beinglocated outside of a boundary line of the widget-based UI 210 orprotruding from the boundary line toward the outside. Other variationsof page turn-over movement may be further provided.

In one example embodiment, functionalities to present an electronicmagazine including two or more data pages to the user device 110-1 andto communicate the user selection across the network 120 may beconfigured to run on the user device 110-1 along with the widget-basedUI 210. In yet another example embodiment, alternatively oradditionally, at least one of the functionalities described above may beconfigured to run on the network-based transaction facility 130 (e.g.,widget server 132) or its affiliated server(s).

The user-widget-based transaction system and method described hereinallow utilizing more computational capacity of a user device (e.g.,110-1) than the conventional web-browser based online transactionsystems and methods may do. This allows providing a user with real likeexperiences of turning a page or flipping through multiple pages of apaper magazine, catalogue, book, newspaper or brochure. This in turnresults in, among other things, reduced time and enhanced interface(e.g., display) functionalities for users to view electronic data pages,ultimately attracting more users to online transactions.

Example Database

Some example embodiments may include various databases (e.g., the datapage database 136) being relational databases or, in some example cases,On Line Analytic Processing (OLAP)-based databases. In the case ofrelational databases, various tables of data are created and data isinserted into, and/or selected from, these tables using Structured QueryLanguage (SQL) or some other database-query language known in the art.In the case of OLAP databases, one or more multi-dimensional cubes orhypercubes containing multidimensional data from which data is selectedor into which data is inserted using Multidimensional Expressions (MDX)may be implemented. In the case of a database using tables and SQL, adatabase application such as, for example, MySQL™, SQLServer™, Oracle8I™, 10G™, or some other suitable database application, may be used tomanage the data. Here, in the case of a database using cubes and MDX, adatabase using Multidimensional On Line Analytic Processing (MOLAP),Relational On Line Analytic Processing (ROLAP), Hybrid On Line AnalyticProcessing (HOLAP), or some other suitable database application may beused to manage the data. These tables or cubes made up of tables, in thecase of, for example, ROLAP, are organized into a Relational Data Schema(RDS) or Object Relational Data Schema (ORDS), as is known in the art.These schemas may be normalized using certain normalization algorithmsso as to avoid abnormalities such as non-additive joins and otherproblems. Additionally, these normalization algorithms may includeBoyce-Codd Normal Form or some other normalization, optimizationalgorithm known in the art.

A Three-Tier Architecture

In some example embodiments, a method is illustrated as implemented in adistributed or non-distributed software application designed under athree-tier architecture paradigm, whereby the various components ofcomputer code that implement this method may be categorized as belongingto one or more of these three tiers. Some example embodiments mayinclude a first tier as an interface (e.g., an interface tier) that isrelatively free from application processing. Further, a second tier maybe a logic tier that performs application processing in the form oflogical/mathematical manipulations of data inputted through theinterface level, and that communicates the results of theselogical/mathematical manipulations to the interface tier and/or to abackend or storage tier. These logical/mathematical manipulations mayrelate to certain business rules or processes that govern the softwareapplication as a whole. A third storage tier may be a persistent storagemedium or non-persistent storage medium. In some example cases, one ormore of these tiers may be collapsed into another, resulting in atwo-tier architecture, or even a one-tier architecture. For example, theinterface and logic tiers may be consolidated, or the logic and storagetiers may be consolidated, as in the case of a software application withan embedded database. This three-tier architecture may be implementedusing one technology, or, as may be discussed below, a variety oftechnologies. This three-tier architecture, and the technologies throughwhich it is implemented, may be executed on two or more computer systemsorganized in a server-client, peer-to-peer, or some other suitableconfiguration. Further, these three tiers may be distributed betweenmore than one computer system as various software components.

Component Design

Some example embodiments may include the above illustrated tiers and theprocesses or operations that make them up, as one or more softwarecomponents. Common to many of these components is the ability togenerate, use, and manipulate data. These components, and thefunctionality associated with each, may be used by client, server, orpeer computer systems. These various components may be implemented by acomputer system on an as-needed basis. These components may be writtenin an object-oriented computer language such that a component-orientedor object-oriented programming technique can be implemented using aVisual Component Library (VCL), Component Library for Cross Platform(CLX), JavaBeans (JB), Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB), JavaScript, ComponentObject Model (COM), Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM), or othersuitable technique. These components may be linked to other componentsvia various Application Programming interfaces (APIs), and then compiledinto one complete server, client, and/or peer software application.Further, these APIs may be able to communicate through variousdistributed programming protocols as distributed computing components.

Distributed Computing Components and Protocols

Some example embodiments may include remote procedure calls used toimplement one or more of the above-illustrated components across adistributed programming environment as distributed computing components.For example, an interface component (e.g., an interface tier) may resideon a first computer system remotely located from a second computersystem containing a logic component (e.g., a logic tier). These firstand second computer systems may be configured in a server-client,peer-to-peer, or some other suitable configuration. These variouscomponents may be written using the above-illustrated object-orientedprogramming techniques and can be written in the same programminglanguage or a different programming language. Various protocols may beimplemented to enable these components to communicate regardless of theprogramming language used to write these components. For example, acomponent written in C++ may be able to communicate with anothercomponent written in the Java programming language using a distributedcomputing protocol such as a Common Object Request Broker Architecture(CORBA), a Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), or some other suitableprotocol. Some example embodiments may include the use of one or more ofthese protocols with the various protocols outlined in the Open SystemsInterconnection (OSI) model or Transmission Control Protocol/InternetProtocol (TCP/IP) protocol stack model for defining the protocols usedby a network to transmit data.

A System of Transmission Between a Server and Client

Some example embodiments may use the OSI model or TCP/IP protocol stackmodel for defining the protocols used by a network to transmit data. Inapplying these models, a system of data transmission between a serverand client or between peer computer systems is illustrated as a seriesof roughly five layers comprising: an application layer, a transportlayer, a network layer, a data link layer, and a physical layer. In thecase of software having a three-tier architecture, the various tiers(e.g., the interface, logic, and storage tiers) reside on theapplication layer of the TCP/IP protocol stack. In an exampleimplementation using the TCP/IP protocol stack model, data from anapplication residing at the application layer is loaded into the dataload field of a TCP segment residing at the transport layer. This TCPsegment also contains port information for a recipient softwareapplication residing remotely. This TCP segment is loaded into the dataload field of an IP datagram residing at the network layer. Next, thisIP datagram is loaded into a frame residing at the data link layer. Thisframe is then encoded at the physical layer, and the data transmittedover a network such as the Internet, a LAN, a WAN, or some othersuitable network. In some example cases, “Internet” refers to a networkof networks. These networks may use a variety of protocols for theexchange of data, including the aforementioned TCP/IP, and additionallyAsynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), Systems Network Architecture (SNA), orsome other suitable protocol. These networks may be organized within avariety of topologies (e.g., a star topology) or structures.

A Computer System

FIG. 5 shows a diagrammatic representation of a machine in the exampleform of a computer system 500 within which a set of instructions, forcausing the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein, may be executed. In alternative embodiments, themachine operates as a stand-alone device or may be connected (e.g.,networked) to other machines. In a networked deployment, the machine mayoperate in the capacity of a server or a client machine in aserver-client network environment, or as a peer machine in apeer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. The machine may be apersonal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a PDA, acellular telephone, a web appliance, a network router, switch or bridge,or any machine capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential orotherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine. Further,while only a single machine is illustrated, the term “machine” shallalso be taken to include any collection of machines that individually orjointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform anyone or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

The computer system 500 includes a processor 502 (e.g., a centralprocessing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU) or both), a mainmemory 501 and a static memory 506, which communicate with each othervia a bus 508. The computer system 500 may further include a videodisplay unit 510 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a cathode raytube (CRT), etc.). The computer system 500 also includes analpha-numeric input device 517 (e.g., a keyboard), a UI navigationdevice (e.g., a cursor control device 511), a disk drive unit 516, asignal generation device 519 (e.g., a speaker) and a network interfacedevice 520. The disk drive unit 516 includes a machine-readable medium522 on which is stored one or more sets of instructions 521 and datastructures (e.g., software) embodying or utilized by any one or more ofthe methodologies or functions described herein. The instructions 521and data structures may also reside, completely or at least partially,within the main memory 501 and/or within the processor 502 duringexecution thereof by the computer system 500, with the main memory 501and the processor 502 also constituting machine-readable media. Theinstructions 521 and data structures may further be transmitted orreceived over a network 526 via the network interface device 520utilizing any one of a number of well-known transfer protocols (e.g.,HTTP).

While the machine-readable medium 522 is shown in an example embodimentto be a single medium, the term “machine-readable medium” should betaken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralizedor distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) thatstore the one or more sets of instructions. The term “machine-readablemedium” shall also be taken to include any medium that is capable ofstoring and encoding a set of instructions for execution by the machineand that cause the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies of embodiments of the present invention, or that iscapable of storing and encoding data structures utilized by orassociated with such a set of instructions. The term “machine-readablemedium” shall accordingly be taken to include, but not be limited to,solid-state memories, optical and magnetic media. Such media may alsoinclude, without limitation, hard disks, floppy disks, flash memorycards, digital video disks, random access memory (RAM), read only memory(ROM), and the like.

The embodiments described herein may be implemented in an operatingenvironment comprising software installed on a computer, in hardware, orin a combination of software and hardware. Such embodiments of theinventive subject matter may be referred to herein, individually orcollectively, by the term “invention” merely for convenience and withoutintending to voluntarily limit the scope of this application to anysingle invention or inventive concept if more than one is, in fact,disclosed.

Marketplace Applications

A method and system is described to provide a user-widget-basedtransaction environment. In one example embodiment, an electronicmagazine may be presented via a user device as a widget without using abrowser. The electronic magazine may comprise two or more data pages. Auser selection of at least one of the two or more data pages may bedetected and then communicated from the user device across a network forfurther processing.

Additional Notes

The above “DETAILED DESCRIPTION” includes references to the accompanyingdrawings, which form a part of the “DETAILED DESCRIPTION.” The drawingsshow, by way of illustration, how specific embodiments of the inventioncan be practiced. These embodiments are also referred to herein as“examples.” Such examples can include elements in addition to thoseshown and described. However, the present inventors also contemplateexamples in which only those elements shown and described are provided.

All publications, patents, and patent documents referred to in thisdocument are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety, asthough individually incorporated by reference. In the event ofinconsistent usages between this document and those documents soincorporated by reference, the usage in the incorporated reference(s)should be considered supplementary to that of this document; forirreconcilable inconsistencies, the usage in this document controls.

In this document, the terms “a” or “an” are used, as is common in patentdocuments, to include one or more than one, independent of any otherinstances or usages of “at least one” or “one or more.” In thisdocument, the term “or” is used to refer to a nonexclusive or, such that“A or B” includes “A but not B,” “B but not A,” and “A and B,” unlessotherwise indicated. In the appended claims, the terms “including” and“in which” are used as the plain-English equivalents of the respectiveterms “comprising” and “wherein.” Also, in the following claims, theterms “including” and “comprising” are open-ended, that is, a system,device, article, or process that includes elements in addition to thoselisted after such a term in a claim are still deemed to fall within thescope of that claim. Moreover, in the following claims, the terms“first,” “second,” and “third,” etc., are used merely as labels, and arenot intended to impose numerical requirements on their objects.

The above description is intended to be illustrative, and notrestrictive. For example, the above-described examples (or one or moreaspects thereof) may be used in combination with each other. Otherembodiments can be used, such as by one of ordinary skill in the artupon reviewing the above description. The Abstract is provided to complywith 37 C.F.R. §1.72(b), to allow the reader to quickly ascertain thenature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with theunderstanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scopeor meaning of the claims. Also, in the above Description of ExampleEmbodiments, various features may be grouped together to streamline thedisclosure. This should not be interpreted as intending that anunclaimed disclosed feature is essential to any claim. Rather, inventivesubject matter may lie in less than all features of a particulardisclosed embodiment. Thus, the following claims are hereby incorporatedinto the Description of Example Embodiments, with each claim standing onits own as a separate embodiment.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: at least one processor andexecutable instructions accessible on a non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium that, when executed, cause the processor to performoperations comprising: presenting, via a user device, an electronicmagazine as a widget without using a browser, the electronic magazineincluding a plurality of data pages containing one or more listings ofone or more categories, at least one listing including: productdescription information for an item available for purchase via anetwork-based transaction facility; and a user-selectable element that,when selected, facilitates a transaction relating to the item availablefor purchase; receiving a user selection of at least one data page ofthe plurality of data pages that includes the user-selectable elementfrom the user device; determining whether a destination addressassociated with the user selection is registered with the network-basedtransaction facility; transmitting the user selection from the userdevice to the network-based transaction facility based on adetermination that the destination address is registered with thenetwork-based transaction facility; transmitting the user selection fromthe user device to the destination address without going through thenetwork-based transaction facility based on a determination that thedestination address is not registered with the network-based transactionfacility; and replacing the electronic magazine presented via the userdevice with a new electronic magazine including a plurality of new datapages containing one or more new listings of a common category that isdifferent from the one or more categories.
 2. The system of claim 1,wherein the operations further comprise establishing a networkconnection via a widget-based user interface (UI) without activating thebrowser.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations furthercomprise turning over the at least one data page toward a neighboringdata page in response to a request for a page turn-over.
 4. The systemof claim 3, wherein the operations further comprise starting the pageturn-over of the at least one data page from a user-specified portion ofthe selected data page.
 5. The system of claim 3, wherein the operationsfurther comprise changing the speed of the page turn-over of the atleast one data page.
 6. The system of claim 3, wherein the operationsfurther comprise pausing the at least one data page during the pageturn-over.
 7. The system of claim 3, wherein the operations furthercomprise displaying at least a portion of the at least one data page asfolded, bent, or partially overlapping with one or more none-selecteddata pages.
 8. The system of claim 3, wherein the operations furthercomprise: determining, from the at least one data page, a first portionthat is not turned over and a second portion that is turned over; anddisplaying contents of the at least one data page on the first portionand contents of a rear-side page of the at least one data page on thesecond portion simultaneously.
 9. A computer-implemented method,comprising: presenting, using one or more processors, via a user device,an electronic magazine as a widget without using a browser, theelectronic magazine including a plurality of data pages containing oneor more listings of one or more categories, at least one listingincluding: product description information for an item available forpurchase via a network-based transaction facility; and a user-selectableelement that, when selected, facilitates a transaction relating to theitem available for purchase; identifying a user selection of at leastone data page of the plurality of data pages that includes theuser-selectable element from the user device across a network;determining whether a destination address associated with the userselection is registered with the network-based transaction facility fromwhich the plurality of data pages are received; transmitting the userselection from the user device to the network-based transaction facilitybased on a determination that the destination address is registered withthe network-based transaction facility; transmitting the user selectionfrom the user device to the destination address without going throughthe network-based transaction facility based on a determination that thedestination address is not registered with the network-based transactionfacility; and replacing the electronic magazine presented via the userdevice with a new electronic magazine including a plurality of new datapages containing one or more new listings of a common category that isdifferent from the one or more categories.
 10. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 9, wherein the presenting comprises establishing anetwork connection via a widget-based user interface (UI) withoutactivating the browser.
 11. The computer-implemented method of claim 9,wherein the presenting comprises turning over the at least one data pagetoward a neighboring data page in response to a request for a pageturn-over.
 12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein theturning over includes pausing the at least one data page during the pageturn-over.
 13. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein theturning over comprises displaying at least a portion of the at least onedata page as folded, bent or partially overlapping with one or morenone-selected data pages.
 14. The computer-implemented method of claim11, wherein the turning over comprises: determining, from the at leastone data page, a first portion that is not turned over and a secondportion that is turned over; and displaying contents of the at least onedata page on the first portion and contents of a rear-side page of theat least one data page on the second portion simultaneously.
 15. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein the transmitting theuser selection from the user device to the network-based transactionfacility further comprises forwarding the user selection from thenetwork-based transaction facility to the destination address.
 16. Anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions,that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to performoperations, comprising: presenting, using one or more processors, via auser device, an electronic magazine as a widget without using a browser,the electronic magazine including a plurality of data pages containingone or more listings of one or more categories, at least one listingincluding: product description information for an item available forpurchase via a network-based transaction facility; and a user-selectableelement that, when selected, facilitates a transaction relating to theitem available for purchase; identifying a user selection of at leastone data page of the plurality of data pages that includes theuser-selectable element from the user device across a network;determining whether a destination address associated with the userselection is registered with the network-based transaction facility;transmitting the user selection from the user device to thenetwork-based transaction facility based on a determination that thedestination address is registered with the network-based transactionfacility; transmitting the user selection from the user device to thedestination address without going through the network-based transactionfacility based on a determination that the destination address is notregistered with the network-based transaction facility; and replacingthe electronic magazine presented via the user device with a newelectronic magazine including a plurality of new data pages containingone or more new listings of a common category that is different from theone or more categories.
 17. The non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium of claim 16, wherein the user-selectable element facilitates atransaction associated with placing an order for the item available forpurchase.
 18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium ofclaim 16, wherein the user-selectable element facilitates a transactionassociated with facilitating a purchase of the item available forpurchase.
 19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium ofclaim 16, wherein the user-selectable element facilitates a transactionassociated with bidding for the item available for purchase.